The mayor of Abbotsford said that the situation on Sumas Prairie remains B次元官网网址渃riticalB次元官网网址� but that the pump station is holding for now.
Mayor Henry Braun said that 184 people have been rescued by air or water and that crews will begin aerial assessments this morning. The city last night pleaded with Sumas Prairie residents to evacuate immediately, and for those who cannot to call 911.
B次元官网网址淭he surge in water that weB次元官网网址檙e experiencingB次元官网网址� is from the Nooksack river, coming through from Washington State,B次元官网网址� Braun said, adding that all four pumps at the Barrowtown Pump Station are at full capacity, together pumping about half a million gallons per minute.
B次元官网网址淧ump station is operating at our full capacityB次元官网网址� but it was never designed to take on water from another country.B次元官网网址�
Braun said that during the night, crews built a dam at the Barrowtown Pump Station to protect it as much as possible.
The mayor said that the absolute worst case scenario would be more rain, which would fill up old Sumas Lake B次元官网网址� about 10 metres deep B次元官网网址� which takes up the eastern two-thirds of Sumas Prairie.
B次元官网网址淥nce that lake is full and the Nooksack (River) keeps comingB次元官网网址� those pumps cannot keep up with that volume,B次元官网网址� Braun said.
B次元官网网址淚f we had another weather event like we just went throughB次元官网网址� we are in deep doo doo.B次元官网网址�
Massive flooding on Sumas Prairie
B次元官网网址� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Braun said that officials are hoping that water drops another metre, allowing the city to open the flood gates at Barrowtown, allowing seven times more water through than the four pumps.
He said that the provincial AlertReady system was not off the table as the situation progressed. Provincial officials have been criticized for not utilizing the system despite catastrophic flooding throughout much of the province.
B次元官网网址淚t was our decision not to activate the alert ready system for whole city of 170,000,B次元官网网址� Braun said, adding that he didnB次元官网网址檛 want to alarm residents living outside of the flood zone.
Abbotsford Police Chief Mike Serr said that most residents had cooperated with evacuation efforts but urged people to stay away from the area and out of the water.
B次元官网网址淭his water is not something you want your children in a kayak, or you want to be swimming or wading in this waterB次元官网网址� weB次元官网网址檙e seeing that,B次元官网网址� Serr said. B次元官网网址淲e appreciate you want to see whatB次元官网网址檚 happeningB次元官网网址� but we need you to stay away allow the workers and rescuers to be out there doing what they need to do. If we lose a levee or anything like that the water can rush very quickly.B次元官网网址�
Serr said that there is currently no one unaccounted for among the Sumas Prairie residents. Anyone who requires help to evacuate should call 911 immediately. Anyone wishing to offer support should call 604-864-5688.
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